Best of Tierra del Fuego

Museo Marítimo de Ushuaia [1]: Much more than its name suggests, Ushuaia’s best museum needs more than one visit to absorb its maritime heritage and appreciate the way one of the world’s most remote prisons affected the city’s development.

Estancia Harberton [2]: East of Ushuaia, this historic estancia is, arguably, the nucleus of the “uttermost part of the earth."

Glaciar Martial [3]: Whether entirely by foot or partly by chairlift, the climb to Ushuaia’s nearby glacier, part of Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego [4], rewards visitors with panoramic views of the city and the storied Beagle Channel.

Puerto Williams [5]: On Isla Navarino, across the Beagle Channel from Ushuaia in Chile, tiny Williams retains much of the “uttermost part of the earth” ambience that the Argentine city once offered. It also provides access to the rugged hiking trails of the Dientes de Navarino, a series of summits that rise like inverted vampire’s fangs.

Casa Braun-Menéndez [6] (Museo Regional de Magallanes): In Punta Arenas, Chile, Magallanes’s regional museum occupies what was the mansion of Patagonia’s wool aristocracy.

Monumento Natural Los Pingüinos [7]: In the summer season, penguins occupy every square centimeter of Isla Magdalena, also home to a historic lighthouse.

Parque Nacional Pali Aike [8]: Hugging the Argentine border, the caves of the northern Magallanes’s volcanic steppe feature some of the continent’s prime early-human sites.

The Fuegian fjords [9]: It may be expensive to cruise the ice-clogged inlets of the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego, from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia, Cape Horn, and back, but it’s still cheaper than chartering your own yacht. Even backpackers sometimes splurge for a leg of this unforgettable itinerary.

Torres del Paine [10]: The granite needles that rise above the Patagonian steppe are a beacon drawing travelers from around the world to Chile’s premier national park, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine [11].

Cuernos del Paine [12]: This jagged interface between igneous and metamorphic rock, also in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, is some of the world’s most breathtaking alpine scenery.